Flotb pbavweb



F. HEAVENE-R Oar-Coupling.

No. 203,451. Patented May 7,1878.

i lllm J ww WITNESSES d as INVENTUB WWfiQ mm u w ATTBBNHS- N. PETERS,PHOT0-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. n c.

'To an whom mag concern:

Laramie City, :in the lcounty of Albany, Wyoproved Oar-Coupling; and'ldohereby declare that the afollowing-is iaifull, clear,- and exactdescriptionof the same, reference being ihadi totheaccompanyingudrawings, "formin g part .ofthis specification,'in whicht yet out of contact with the same, so-that in FLOYDER, OF LARAMIE CITY,WYOMING-@DE'RRITQBY.

' Specification forming part of iLetters Patent No.

203,451, dated May :7, 1878.; .application {filed V March 14, 1878.

Be it known that'I, FLOYD HEAVENER, .of

ming Territory,rhaveinvented a new and Im- Figure 1 is a verticallongitudinahsection with the devices in position to be coupled. Fig. 2is a side view, with the front portion of the draw-head broken out,showing the position of the devices after thecouplinghas been effected.Fig. 3 is a detail of the tapering stem carrying the cross-head. Fig. 4is a detail of the block which guides the rear end of said stem.

My invention relates to certain improvements upon the car-coupling forwhich Letters Patent were granted me August 28, 1877. Said improvementsare designed to secure greater strength and durability, and to reducethe wear upon the operating parts.

They consist, chiefly,inconstructingthe stem of the receding cross-head,which is surrounded by the coil-spring, in a tapering form, andsupporting its end in a metal block, which also forms a seat for thespring, whereby the said spring is held concentric with the stem, and

the alternate advance of the stem from the action of the spring'andretraction from the impact of the entering link there is no abrasionbetween the said stem and spring to wear the latter and impair itsenergy.

The improvement also consists in forming the cross-head in curved form,and combining it in a peculiar manner with the stem, andin other detailshereinafter described.

In the drawings, A represents the draw-bar, which is formed ,in a solidpiece, with an enlarged forward end, containing several link-. throats,and a recess in which is arranged the cross-head B, attached to a stem,0, surrounded bya spiral spring, D, the said cross-head being arrangedto be pushed forward by the' spring, and to support the coupling-pin E,until struck by the entering link, when the crosshead and stem recedeagainst the tension of the spring, and allow the icouplingtpin to fallthrough :the .entered link. The diront side of the cross-head haszbev'eled :faces, "which, from the pressure of the spring, horizontalposition ,whemcoupling.

:hold the link As so far described, the coupling does not differ fromthat already .patentedby :IDG- "To obviate the wear to the spring,:howeven-from the movement of zthesteminsidesthe same,=the

saidstemis tapered from the shoulder near "the cross-head,ito its*reariextremity, where-it ends in ahead or"button,.-b.Saidstemissupportedat its rear. end inanopenislotted :block,

.0, with the head bupon the srear-s'ide Jof the same, to define andlimit the forward movement of the stem. Upon the front side of thisblock, and between the same and the shoulder d, is arranged the springD, which serves to hold the cross-head to the front, the rear end ofthis spring being held in a ring-shaped seat in the block 0, while thecoils of said spring are of uniform diameter throughout the length ofthe same.

Now, the stem 0 being tapered and of less diameter than the convolutionsof the spring,

and the latter being held concentrically upon the stem by itsring-shaped seat, it will be seen that the coils of the spring are outof contact with the stem, so that, as the latter is moved back and forthin coupling, there is no wear produced upon the spring by abrasion, andconsequently its strength, tension, or energy is maintained withoutdepreciation. In connecting and fitting these parts, the spring isplaced on the stem, and the block then placed upon the stem between thespring and the head b, the spring entering its seat and holding theblock against said head. The stem,

spring, and block are in this relation passed into the central throat,and back into the longitudinal recess of the draw-bar, until the blockdrops into a cross-shaped notch, e, in the drawbar. A horizontaltransverse bolt, f, is then driven through the draw-bar and into thehalf round groove in the top of the block, which at the same timesecures the block in the drawbar and incloses the stem in the block byclosing the open slot of the same.

To provide for any roughness or unevenness in the notch e of thedraw-bar, the bottom of the block is made to touch only at certainpoints and to hold the metal block up straight, and prevent it fromtipping over, it has an elongated foot, 8, at its bottom, arranged atright angles to the plane of the block. After the stem has been insertedthe cross-head is fitted, as in my previous patent, by passing the samethrough the coupling-pin hole, and riveting it to the stem through theoblong hole g in the side of the draw-bar. Instead, however, of makingthe cross-head straight, I make it curved, with its extremities bentforward. I also make it of substantially uniform transverse dimensionthroughout its length, and, instead of passing the cross-head into anopen slot in the stem,-the stem is made with a closed slot or mortise,and the central inclined face a is formed directly on the end of thestem,

- while the natural curvature of the cross-head cross-head also makes itstronger, while the forward bend at the top permits the couplingpin tobe supported without bringing the body of the cross-head too far to thefront.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. Thetapering stem 0, carrying the crosshead, combined with the draw-bar, theconcentric spring D, having convolutions of uniform diameter, and theblock a, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The cross-head B and stem 0, having a head, I), to limit itsmovement, in combination with the spring D, the draw-bar, and theremovable block 0 fixed in said draw-bar, substantially as and for thepurpose described. I 3. The combination, with the draw-bar having notche, of the stem 0, having head b, the spring D, the open slotted andgrooved block 0, and the transverse bolt f, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

4. The forwardly-curved cross-head B, made of substantially uniformtransverse dimensions, combined with the spring-seated receding stem,having a closed slot or mortise and an inclined forward end,substantially as described. r

FLOYD HEAVEN ER. Witnesses:

N. L. ANDREWS, E. V. PRICE;

